Lumpenproletariat

WTH is that, right?

It should sound like lumpy potato if you (mis-)pronounce it faster. lol.

Actually I found out today, this Marxist and Engels term refers to the most degraded of the proletariat; namely the lowest of the underclass - criminals, vagrants and the perpetually unemployed.

But wouldn't it be damn damn funny, if in CS, instead of the usual vulgarities, someone yells out at some unsuspecting person,

"EH you freaking LUMPENPROLETARIAT!!!"

And the poor ignorant soul goes,

"... huh?!?!?!?!?!"

WAHAHAHAHHAA!! Evil me :P Let's see who shall be my first victim! LOL.

...

Yeah reading all these criminological theories is driving me quite nutty. But apparently, some of it is actually getting embedded in my brain even though it doesn't appear that way most of the time.

Last Saturday, I got back my second assignment (after sending in a grand total of nine assignments to date; QUT is slow :s), and surprisingly, I did quite well!

My lecturer commended me quite generously, and knowing him (the 1st semester he taught me I got an almost failing grade), it is indeed quite rare.

So maybe after almost killing myself the past few weeks with continuous bouts of flu and sleepless nights, rushing to write essays and then rushing to get them submitted on time, these blardy things called assignments, there is some worth in it?

This encouragement put a smile on my face. To think it is just another paper being marked. What an impact it has on my life :s

Hmm, lol sorry if this has become a very egoistic post. I never used to do well in school, see. I was once upon a time, ranked within the last quarter of Legal Studies students, perpetually in danger of failing the course. I even had to repeat a year. I was part of the lumpenproletariat! Haha!

Though I can laugh about it now, I think I gave my father and lecturers a lot of heartaches and headaches then.

...

I was also very happy yesterday when I found an old site I used to love. Around 2001, I used to frequent Frederick Lin's site a great deal. After a three computers and moving my life to and fro, I'd lost his url, and there were so many distractions in my life that I somehow didn't try to look for his site again.

I was studying whilst listening to my collection of instrumental music and played his song "End of Love". And then, debbie-ishly, in the middle of Fordism and post-Fordism, Rusche and Kirchheimer, I had the bright idea to google Frederick Lin.

It was like finding a lost friend! I promptly went over to the Winterealm by Frederick Lin and downloaded all his instrumental tracks :P (Give the tracks some loading time when you click play, or Firefox might crash.)

Feeling really amicable, I even listened to his vocal tracks, and I must say he has improved by an arm an a leg :)

I think I like him because he is melancholic, frank and humble, all these years still producing wonderful music from his home. For someone who has gone overseas and back, he is a breath of fresh air, one classy step away from the teeny-bopper singapore-idol crowd which can get pretty much sometimes, even if the only brushes one has with them are on the streets.

Perhaps what I really like is the depth of feeling in his lyrics and compositions :) Unlike the shallow glitter and glow pop most Singaporeans seem to prefer.

...

Yes, I'm in, what G would call, a better mood. It was a great weekend, even though most of it was spent studying.

Maybe I've found what quiet happiness means at last :)


- 22 May 2006 1:03pm -